Evolution

How do we begin, we move slowly and gently through the process, giving ourselves a chance to find our way without creating too many obstacles along the way, especially ourselves, first lesson…get out of your own way, allow yourself to be open and receive all the yumminess that the universe has in-store for you.

Suggestions for beginning the 40-day cleanse sadhna.

Set the intentions, what are the reasons you want to commit to this practice, try and make sure the reasons are for you, we are moving into a process of self love, this is about you, when we show up for ourselves, we can then truly show up for others.

Create your affirmations, those positive statements that you want to bring into your life, that support you being you, giving yourself the opportunity to explore what you want to bring into your life, examples of some affirmations, I am beautiful, I am bountiful, I am blissful, find what may be the most uncomfortable for you to ask for and go for it.

Using your affirmation begin to use it as your personal mantra, that sound current that you can carry around with you where ever you go and begin to allow the sound to heal and support your entire system. Through your positive mantra you and can change yourself and your surroundings, get specific, find the power of creating a positive sound current for yourself.

Sacred space, find that space with in your life that is all about you, if it’s a corner in your apartment, in the closet, where-ever but find a space to label your own. This space is about honoring yourself, your work, create an alter; bring in all those reminders that support the recognition of who you are and what you believe in. Creating sacred space can also mean clearing out, once we decide on a space, beginning the process of creating sometime we need to clear, open your self up to letting go in this process, it may be time to let go of old stuff that no longer serves us, so that then we can open ourselves up to receive new, supportive energy rather than be bogged down by old dead weight, sit with this idea. When sitting think about what you want to receive, what has your practice of positive affirmations brought to your recognition, how can your space represent the opportunity for new growth.

Communication-practice non-violent communication with your family, friends, co-workers, set very specific intentions around what you need for yourself to be successful over the next 40 days, let your voice be heard, but also at the same time practice active listening, doing this will open the pathway to a successful 40 days of honoring yourself and practicing self love and self healing. Make sure in your dialogs and expressing yourself that you don’t confuse boundaries with barriers, remembering that in creating boundaries you are creating open successful compassionate communications, barriers make it impossible for any real communication and actually cause more tension than relief.

Get organized, set a plan for yourself and your food goals, prepare your menu ideas, you don’t have to stick to it perfectly, but at least create a base line that allows you to understand what produce and other food items you will need. Figure out your flow of cooking and making juices and smoothies, simple suggestion for juices and smoothies is to do some large batches at one time, have plenty of mason canning jars to store your juices and smoothies in the fridge. Mason jars are great because they are airtight so they will help keep the integrity of the juice for several days. By doing the juices in larger batches the process does not become over whelming and you can maintain a flow of success. Feeling successful its what we want to strive for, don’t set un realistic goals for yourself; be kind and gentle with your self, still maintaining a commitment of what you need to take care of yourself.

Goal setting for the next 40 days.

Here are some suggestions of how to move into the next 40 days, meditate on what you wan to accomplish, do you want to lose weight, do you want to bring more veggies into your daily meal plan, do you want to eliminate dairy, the list is limitless, but limit yourself to just a couple, remembering we want to shot for success, the idea is also to build your platform for self awareness over the next 40 days, it does not all have to be done in the first 10 days.

Goals for the first 10 days.

Suggestions for the first ten days, lets bring in as much green juice as we can, exploring the benefits of greens, here are a couple of recipe ideas for juices.

Everyday green.

6 leaves of kale

5 leaves of Swiss chard

1 cucumber

1 handful of parsley

1 green apple

1” ginger

Juice it, and enjoy the healing benefits of this juice almost immediately, we will be drinking this juice during our week end, time to start your sadhna is now, no excuses, only the highest levels of support for ourselves, release the old tapes, let go of the toxic information.

Begin doing at least 5 minutes of cardio activity; try to make sure that you sweat, sweating is really important in releasing toxins.

Write at least one positive affirmation that you will carry with you for the next 10 days, something as simple as “I am healthy” repeat it often throughout your day, it is yours, no one else’s, honor yourself, stay committed to your work, stay in your won business, don’t take on anyone else’s baggage.

Meditation suggestion, for self-healing.

POSTURE: Sit in Easy Pose. Arms are crossed, holding opposite shoulders. The left arm should be over the right. The shoulders should carry the weight.

What do the goals look like, create a journal to document your experiment, open yourself up to the limitless possibilities of what the next 10 days may look like, sit with the emotions that come up while on this personal exploration, begin to listen to the authentic self, bow to your self on a daily basis, brining not only the food component into your 40 day practice but also the physical, yoga, exercise, a daily walk, whatever it is make it a priority to yourself, always remembering to breath. Walking can be one of the highest forms of yoga, open your senses to all the beauty around us, it may be as simple as opening our eyes to the little children playing in the park. It’s all God at work, working in us and through us. As we move into the next 10 days, we want to continue with our first two goals and integrate them into our next 2 goals.

Days 10-20, goals.

Finding your personal dance, what does that look like, how liberating is it to move into your own movement, as we explore our authentic voice, lets us now uncover our authentic movement, going deeper into the exploration of self and self fulfillment, am I tending to my own business or am I stuck in someone elses business, let the movement guide you, let the movement be the teacher.

Juice for exploration within the next 10 days.

Ginger Pear

3 parsnips

1 pear

1 “ ginger

helps with inflammation, weight loss and building your immune system, see how it works within your sadhana, don’t forget your juice from last week, what does your juice commitment look like for these next 10 days, how do you feel? Writing is a big part of the process, give yourself and chance to explore the paper.

Meditation suggestion for the next 10 days. Meditation to Listen with simultaneous recall

MEDITATION TO LISTEN WITH SIMULTANEOUS RECALL

Yogi Bhajan • November 24, 1990

POSTURE: Sit in Easy Pose with your elbows bent down by the sides. Raise your hands so they are to the sides of and a little in front of each shoulder, palms facing forward.

MUDRA: Make fists of the hands, thumbs on top of fingers, and extend the index (Jupiter) and middle (Saturn) fingers up in a "V" or "peace sign."

EYES: Focus at the tip of the nose.

BREATH: Make your breathing very slow and complete.

MANTRA: Play the music for only the last 11 minutes, but do not chant.

WHA-HAY GUROO, WHA-HAY GUROO, WHA-HAY GUROO, WHA-HAY JEEO

FOCUS: Listen to the sounds of the mantra. Stay alert and aware. The moment you start to meditate, your mind will start talking to you. Try to hear what your mind says to you. You will want to hear everything else, the whole world, but today you must hear your own mind. Stay with it. Each thought that passes now is from your subconscious. Listen to it. Perceive and understand it.

TIME: Total: 31 minutes. (Meditate silently for 20 minutes. For the last 11 minutes, play the music very softly.)

TO END: In the final minute, continue to meditate but flex, circle tense- ly, and stretch the spine.

COMMENT: If you do not have the capacity to hear yourself, you can- not hear others. When you cannot listen to another person or situation, there'll be no mutual understanding, and that's why life goes in error.

Now we are beginning to really pay attention to what is going on with our relationship to self, what information is coming in around cravings, are there particular times when I crave sugar, when does the idea of eating carbohydrates really show up, continuing to journal, be your own healer, witness the truths, but at the same time don’t continue to keep writing the same old story, what does the new beginnings look like, step in, step out, create the dance, the dance of self awareness, self beauty. What am I adding to my daily routine that is going to enhance this dance, more juices, new recipes, shopping more consciously, reading the labels on the backs of packaging so that I really understand what I am consuming, making conscious purchases, buying locally as much as possible. Today I will be my own best friend.

Goals for days 20-30.

We have now passed the half way point, think about the last 20 days, what has come up for you around your diet, your health care, explore the ides of creating your won health care system, what would it look like for you to be sitting in the drivers seat around your health care. What foods would you bring into your daily practice, what foods would you eliminate from your life. Are there vitamins and supplements that you are feeling you might need to bring into your day to day practice, there is a lot of information out there bout mineral deficiencies, we are depleted because we are dehydrated, the water that we drink has been stripped of all the mineral content that we need, the soil that a lot of food is grown in, is mineral deficient, think about what might be missing in your diet.

Juice for consideration, along with the previous two juices.

Red Red Red

½ head red cabbage

1 beet

2 carrots

½ red apple

½ lemon

Juice it up

Great juice for heart disease, stroke, cancer, weight loss and vision

Meditation

Gyan Chakra Kriya Meditation is one of the most sacred kriyas in Kundalini Yoga. It was practiced so miracles could hap- pen. There is a story associated with it: Over 2,000 years ago Rishi Anand saw with his intuitive eye that a great weather shift and famine would strike the country and create much hardship and death. He asked all the monks in his ashram to practice this every day, selflessly. After three years, the famine struck hard. The monks had attracted opportunity, wealth and prosperity and had stored a lot of food. So they opened free kitchens and distributed their food, and brought more in from great distances. They saved humanity for two full years until the effects of the famine had passed.

POSTURE: Sit in Easy Pose. It is important to sit with a straight spine.

MUDRA: Hands are in Gyan Mudra (the tip of the thumb and the tip of the index fin- ger together). Keep the other three fingers straight and pressed together side by side. Stretch your arms over your head. Create a steady movement: Begin making large alter- nate circles of the arms. The right arm swoops in a large counterclockwise circle over the head, back behind the body and then out to the right as low as the heart center. The left arm moves in a large clockwise circle over the head, back behind the body and out to the left. Stagger the movement of the two arms. As the left arm comes over the head, the right arm is circling out to the right of the body. As the right arm moves towards the head, the left arm moves out to the left of the body. This way the arms won't col- lide with one another. Keep the arms circling up and around and move forcefully in rhythm with the mantra, one revolution per second.

MANTRA: Chant clearly and forcefully from the Navel Point to the tape of Sat Nam Wahe Guru, Indian Version #2, with this mantra:

Sat naam, sat naam, wha-hay guroo, wha-hay guroo

TIME: Continue for 11 minutes. For the last 30 seconds, move as fast as possible.

TO END: Inhale, stretch the arms straight up to hug the ears and stretch the spine as much as possible. Hold 10 seconds, exhale and repeat two more times. During the last inhale and stretch, twist the body first left then right seven times then come to center and exhale.

COMMENTS/BENEFITS: This meditation is fantastic for healing. It helps the heart and joints. It lowers stored anger. It increases intuition. In 120 days of steady practice you will change and your capacity to realize change changes.

Its primary effect is that it brightens your halo. It builds the aura. It activates the arcline, which taps the knowledge from the aura and akasha. That is why arcline is called the seal of knowledge. Life becomes different. You realize your reality and much prosperity runs to you. Your radiance and presence communicates and elevates your life.

Now we are coming into the home stretch, we are approaching the last 10 days, lets really dig deep into our goals, and lets find that stretch, really stepping into the healing process. Lets take some time to look at the primary foods in our life, our relationships, our home life, our careers, our finances, our physical activity, what comes up when we sit with the opportunity to search a little more deeply into these areas of our life, We have had 30 days of practicing self love through this practice, we have been clearing ourselves out to make room for expansion, use this time to consider some areas of our life that we have shoved away, its time to embrace the information.

The home stretch, or the new beginnings, which ever approach you choose to take; we have been in the epic flow of self-awakening and healthy lifestyle strategic planning. What are the big questions that have been coming up for you in this process, and with those questions coming up “what are you going to do about it” always seems to pop up for me when I am in this inquiry. We have spent the last 30 days really working on our goals, finding out what works and what does not work in our lives, especially focusing on healthy lifestyle practices that support our trajectory into soaring and thriving. How do we begin to explore taking what has revealed itself and turn that into the teachings, the information and experiences that we have been rooted in for the past 30 days and bring that information into a platform to help others. The long and short of what have been doing here is how do we take all this work and bring it out into the world to make it a little bit better place to live, how do we be the change that we want to see in the world, we all know where that notion comes from J. So as we explore our goals for the last 10 days of our sadhana practice, lets really dig deep, go for it. Do you want to try doing nothing but juices and plant based diet for the last 10 days, do you want to cook all of your meals at home for the last ten days, do you want to take a class that is going to support your new found understandings of yourself? Whatever the answer is, go out and do it, take an extra yoga class, talk to someone that you have not spoken to in a while, practice forgiveness for your self and others in your life that need to be forgiven. This is epic; we have been on an amazing quest, now its time to pull it all together, Sat Nam.

Juicing it up for the last 10 days, lets try to take all the juices that we have been doing for the past month and bring them into the final week, along with some of your own favorites that have come out of your exploration, lets keep the juice energy flowing.

MUDRA: Heels of the hands are together in front of the heart center in an open lotus. The sides of the thumb tips meet, as do the sides of the little fingers. All the fingers are open and spread but are not stiffly held. It looks like an open flower. The fingers point upward.

EYES: 1/10th open, or as you like.

BREATH:

PART 1: Prepare to chant the mantra with this segmented pranayam. Inhale one- third of the way and hold for 15 seconds. Inhale another one-third and hold 15 seconds. Inhale completely and suspend for a final 15 seconds, then exhale. Continue for 15 minutes. (With practice, this sequence of inhaling and sus- pending the breath can be taken up to three 20 second holds.)

PART 2: Chant the mantra for 11 minutes. PART 3: Repeat Part 1 for 5 more minutes.

TOTAL TIME: 31 minutes.

MANTRA: Chant the following mantra in a steady pace and in a tune you like

that preserves its beat.

Har Jee Har Har Har Har Har Jee

COMMENTS:

The mantra means “O, my soul, (the creative) God is, God is, God is, God is, O, my soul.” Har manifests from the Infinite subtlety of God into immediate experi- ence. The double form—the palindromic sequence of sounds—manifests the state of creative Infinity itself. It opens your soul to be real and your mind to link effec- tively to your real identity. In the mudra, the thumbs connect to represent “I am” and the little fingers “I shall be.” The three fingers that are open represent the past, present and future. So between how you are and how your soul will bloom, all of time serves you. It is a mudra for your connection and flow of life from your essence; its subtle and electromagnetic form adjusts the projection of the heart center and lets your words go deeply into your mind to guide your new behaviors.

As I sit in my window this early Saturday morning I find myself in a place of deep emotions and discomfort. I am witnessing the uneasiness that I am experiencing as I feel being alone, alone in my own skin, alone in my own thoughts, alone with my breath. I realize as I sit how something is missing in my life, what is missing is the relationship to myself on a level that brings me complete comfort and ease. I realize that even though I continue to do the work, I am not there yet, I still want to bring in outside sources to fill the empty hole that exists for me, I want to feel another human being close so that I don't know the emptiness. I want to have the right body image so that someone, everyone finds be desirable, so that I am attractive to someone, I am challenged by the negative information that is coming in, telling me I am not worthy, I am not good enough, I am not young enough, I will be alone in the empty hole for the rest of my time. I become challenged when I think about aging, I become challenged when I think about being on this planet alone and old. I ask myself in all of this "what is the best thing about me being me?" its an interesting question, one that gets the motor going for sure, because when I begin this process, I immediately have to start going to the place of gratitude, I have to start acknowledging all that I have, all that I have been through and all that continues to flow with in me, with or without my intention. I know that I have had many teachers throughout my life, many life experinces that have served me well, to bring me in and out of consciousness, to guide me along the way, even when I choose not to pay attention. I know that for the insane situations that I have found myself in, several of them definitely life threatening, I am still here. I have a purpose, sometimes it is more clear than others, but I do have a purpose, god only knows what it is at times, but as long as he knows, I am ok. I don't like sitting in the place of being challenged by my own thoughts, I have no where to run, I have removed all the substances from my life that used to do that for me, my choice today is just to sit and allow the experience to arise around me. What do I do in this moment, in the now, I have choices today and so be it, I begin to explore the my breath, I begin to explore a 3 minute mediation, I take some action, I begin to remove the obstacles that bind me, I sit, everything begins to shift, I come into rock pose, I stretch my arms above my head, elbows straight and hugging my head, I press my palms together, then interlace my fingers together index fingers pointing up, inhale sat tensing and pulling inward and upward the rectum, ex organs and navel, exhale nam, relaxing completely, I continue to chant sat nam in this way for 3 minutes, inhale and hold the breath while squeezing and tightening every muscle in your body, exhale, relax and witness everything shifting, I bow to Mahankirn Kaur for sharing these teachings in the "three minute start" manual for meditation. Now, everything has shifted and I can be in the now and not be bombarded by my negative mind.

The time is now for some real letting go, as the universe provides more and more, I understand less and less, finding the necessity to understand something much less needed. It is all about trust, faith and allowing the internal to guide and the external to be still, to open my heart and my mind to the endless possibilities, and to know that the divine is orchestrating it all perfectly. What I am witnessing is the constant shifts, the constant new awakenings in each and every day, what was applicable yesterday more than likely is not applicable today, and know that is ok, keeping in the positive flow of moving forward, dynamics are only energy it comes and goes, and in that flow the real beauty of it all comes through, understanding there really is no beginning, there is no end, there just is. As I receive new information I come to understand that is all it is, is information, what I choose to do with that information is what is important, how do I take it in, how do I let it go? I sit in stillness, letting all that surrounds me, surround me, trying not to interfere, just sit. Breath of life, breath of god, the frequency of the universe surrounds me, the sound current of my mantra fills my soul, nature is speaking to me, the real communicator, the holder of the real truths, mother nature I ask that you guide me today, as I move through this day with all the grace and elegance that you the divine teacher does every moment of everyday, embrace me, carry me into infinity, cradle me in your arms, allow me to connect my heart beat with your heart beat, love to all, light to all.

You have the birthright to be happy. You are not happy because you are competing and comparative with something over which you have no control. You have no control over Infinity. And if you have no control over Infinity, don't try to control it. Flow with it, you can reach anywhere. Fight with it, you'll be unhappy. Happiness is your birthright. It cannot be taken away from you. I struggle so very often with what it is that I need to be happy, do I need a new boyfriend, do I need to live in a different place, do I need different work, its always the same questions over and over again when I sit in the place of dis-comfort, I want all of the external things to make it all better. Its all about my thinking, its got nothing to do with any of the stuff that I think is going to make a difference, its my heart, its my soul connection, it’s the compassion that I bring to all that I do. If I can sit in the place of gratitude I am usually off to a good start for the day, it I wake up full of fear and doubt and do nothing to shift that, I am off to the races and I am certainly not going to win. Self doubt-Self loathing are two of my greatest companions, they have traveled with me for a very long time, probably long before this soul landed in this physical body, they are companions that do not have my best interest in there intentions with me, they want to sabotage all that I work towards, they wait for me in the shadow always ready to rear there ugly heads, but I am learning the tools to keep them at bay, today as I do my meditation, as I sit in sadhana, remembering all those who have come before me, treading lightly on the planet and praying for the compassion and understanding to be graceful and gentle with myself and others, reaching out to help someone less fortunate, remembering that it is my birthright to be happy, its imperative to live my life happy, joyous and free, so then I can sit in gods grace, listening to the internal voice of guidance and truth.

Being alone versus being lonely, a big thought with a lot behind it. For many years my drinking and drugging gave me many great social outlets, it helped me be outgoing, fun, boisterous and also never feeling alone, except the next morning, which was usually filled with remorse and shame, but I did not feel alone. I often waver in between feeling alone and being alone, today I really enjoy being alone, I like the experience that I receive when I am alone, I like being able to be self reflective, I also like the clarity that comes to me when I am alone and thinking in a non judgmental way. But sometimes I experience loneliness and I think its just me being alone, but really what it is, is me shutting the door on others, not wanting to have any human engagement because then I have to witness me, and there are times I just don’t want to witness me. I find that I can still dislike me, I can forget all about the work I have done on me, sitting in the place of self pity, sitting in the place of “pour me”…pour me another drink or give me another substance so that I don’t have to feel what is really going on, other substances can be food, sex, over working, the list goes on and on, anything that get me from really being in touch with what is going on with me. I realize that I feel the most connected or believe I am connected to someone only if they are doing what I want them to do, then I feel a connection, but when someone is not doing what I think should be done, a whole other set of information comes in and for the most part it is not correct information, its my mind telling me something that usually sabotages the truth. Today, this morning I ask for guidance, to be able to be present with the truth, that as I wake the new opportunities of a glorious new day are upon me, light is beginning to shine, the beach is calling me, the dog wants out, incense is burning, my morning chants are playing, I am doing the work this morning to find that power greater than myself and step into the role of human being, for one more day, Stretch, breathe, and sit in the place of divine gratitude.

The power of manifestation and how we integrate that into our lives, thought for the day. I often sit and think about all the things that I should have and don’t, and then I often think about all that I have and wonder how did I get all this? It’s a constant inquiry, with then another layer, what do I really need? I often have held myself as this person who when I put my mind to something, will get it, even if it kills me. I also can be that guy who wants it all NOW, when I am seeking for what I think I need, I also get pretty shitty when I don’t get it, especially if I have justified the fact that I need it and I want it. I can really mess up my day when I start getting into the role of director, I want to set the stage, I want to hire all the players, and I want everyone to act just the way I want them to. I always struggle with control, I hate feeling like I am out of control, I want to believe that I have some power over people, places and things and I just don’t, I become full of fear when I don’t think I have control, it scares the hell out of me, because if I am not sitting in fear, then I have to sit in faith, faith that everything is perfect just the way it is, and that no matter what this divine power will guide me and take care of me, sometimes I just don’t want to believe that, well that is the case until I sit, close my eyes, find my breath, and focus at my third eye, allowing the truth to flow through me in every breath, I love what my breath does for me, it keeps me alive, it gives me clarity and it helps to regenerate and rejuvenate every cell in my body, this morning my pray is of gratitude for the breath, always there to support and guide me, if I choose to use it, love to all, light to all, breath to all.